Compression of electronic communications

Abstract

A computer system includes a detection processing module for determining whether a remote system associated with the destination of an electronic communication is capable of decompressing a compressed portion of the electronic communication. The computer system also includes a compression processing module for compressing a portion of an electronic communication if the remote system is determined capable of decompressing the compressed portion. The computer system also includes a communication processing module for sending the compressed portion of the electronic communication to the remote system.

1. A computer system comprising:
 an access module configured to access an e-mail, which e-mail includes a header and a body and is capable of supporting attachments to the e-mail that are distinct of the body of the e-mail; 
 a detection processing module configured to determine whether a remote system associated with the destination of the e-mail is capable of decompressing less than all of the e-mail, wherein decompressing less than all includes decompressing a compressed body of the e-mail; 
 a compression processing module configured to compress less than all of the e-mail, wherein compressing less than all includes compressing the body of the e-mail conditioned on whether the remote system is determined capable of decompressing the compressed body; 
 a message generator module configured to generate a compressed e-mail message that includes a header and a body and is capable of supporting attachments distinct from the body, wherein the body comprises the compressed body of the accessed e-mail; and 
 a communication processing module configured to communicate to the remote system the compressed e-mail message. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1  wherein the e-mail includes encoded text. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1  wherein the compression is lossless. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1  wherein the compression processing module uses a Zlib compression scheme. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1  wherein the body of the e-mail includes content written in hypertext markup language. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1  wherein the compression processing module is configured to maintain the header of the e-mail in an uncompressed format. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1  wherein the e-mail supports one or more attachments and the compression processing module is configured to compress the body of the e-mail and compress the one or more attachments if the remote system is determined capable of decompressing. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1  wherein the e-mail includes an image embedded in the e-mail and the compression processing module is configured to compress the body of the e-mail and compress the image embedded in the e-mail if the remote system is determined capable of decompressing. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 8  wherein the communication processing module also is configured to send the compressed image embedded in the e-mail to the remote system. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1  wherein the communication processing module is configured to communicate the header, the compressed e-mail body, and at least one attachment to the e-mail as a compressed e-mail message that includes a header, a body, and at least one attachment, wherein the header of the compressed e-mail message comprises the header of the e-mail, the body of the compressed e-mail message comprises the compressed body of the e-mail, and the at least one attachment of the compressed e-mail message comprises the at least one attachment of the e-mail. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the detection processing module is configured to determine whether a remote system is capable of decompressing the compressed body of the e-mail without decompressing the header of the e-mail. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the header of the e-mail comprises at least one of:
 the name or address of the sender of the e-mail, 
 the name or address of the recipient of the e-mail, 
 a date and a time the e-mail was sent, and 
 a subject to which the e-mail relates. 
 
     
     
       13. A computer-implemented method for communicating an e-mail, the method comprising:
 accessing an e-mail, which e-mail includes a header and a body and is capable of supporting attachments to the e-mail that are distinct of the body of the e-mail; 
 determining whether a remote system associated with the destination of the e-mail is capable of decompressing less than all of the e-mail, wherein decompressing less than all includes decompressing a compressed body of the e-mail; 
 compressing less than all of the e-mail, wherein compressing less than all includes compressing the body of the e-mail if the remote system is determined capable of decompressing the compressed body 
 generating a compressed e-mail message that includes a header and a body and is capable of supporting attachments distinct from the body, wherein the body comprises the compressed body of the accessed e-mail; and 
 communicating to the remote system the compressed e-mail message. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13  providing the e-mail includes encoded text. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 13  wherein compressing less than all comprises compressing a portion without any data loss. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15  wherein compressing less than all without any data loss comprises compressing a portion using Zlib compression format. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 13  providing the email body includes content written in hypertext markup language. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 13  wherein compressing less than all of the e-mail includes maintaining the header of the e-mail in an uncompressed format. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 13  wherein the e-mail supports one or more attachments and compressing less than all of the e-mail includes compressing the body of the e-mail and compressing the one or more attachments if the remote system is determined capable of decompressing. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 13  wherein the e-mail includes an image embedded in the e-mail and compressing less than all of the e-mail includes compressing the body of the e-mail and compressing the image embedded in the e-mail if the remote system is determined capable of decompressing. 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 20  further comprising sending the compressed image embedded in the e-mail to the remote system. 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 13  wherein communicating to the remote system includes communicating the header, the compressed e-mail body, and at least one attachment to the e-mail as a compressed e-mail message that includes a header, a body, and at least one attachment, wherein the header of the compressed e-mail message comprises the header of the e-mail, the body of the compressed e-mail message comprises the compressed body of the e-mail, and the at least one attachment of the compressed e-mail message comprises the at least one attachment of the e-mail. 
     
     
       23. The method of  claim 13 , wherein determining whether the remote system associated with the destination of the e-mail is capable of decompressing less than all of the e-mail comprises determining whether the remote system is capable of decompressing the compressed body of the e-mail without decompressing the header of the e-mail. 
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 23 , wherein the header of the e-mail comprises at least one of:
 the name or address of the sender of the e-mail, 
 the name or address of the recipient of the e-mail, 
 a date and a time the e-mail was sent, and 
 a subject to which the e-mail relates. 
 
     
     
       25. A computer system comprising:
 a communication processing module configured to receive a compressed e-mail message from a remote system, wherein the compressed e-mail message includes a header and a body and is capable of supporting attachments that are distinct of the body of the compressed e-mail message, and wherein the body of the compressed e-mail message comprises the compressed body of an e-mail and the header of the compressed e-mail message comprises the header of the e-mail; 
 a detection processing module configured to determine whether a remote system associated with the origin of the compressed e-mail message is capable of compressing less than all of the e-mail, wherein compressing less than all includes compressing a body of the e-mail; and 
 a compression processing module configured to decompress the compressed body of the e-mail if the remote system is determined capable of compressing the body. 
 
     
     
       26. The system of  claim 25  wherein the compressed e-mail message includes encoded text. 
     
     
       27. The system of  claim 26  wherein the compression is lossless. 
     
     
       28. The system of  claim 25  wherein the compression processing module uses a Zlib compression scheme. 
     
     
       29. The system of  claim 25  wherein the body of the e-mail includes content written in hypertext markup language. 
     
     
       30. The method of  claim 25  wherein the communication processing module is configured to receive a compressed e-mail message that includes a header maintained in an uncompressed format. 
     
     
       31. The method of  claim 25  wherein the compressed e-mail message supports one or more compressed attachments and the compression processing module is configured to decompress the compressed one or more attachments if the remote system is determined capable of compressing. 
     
     
       32. The method of  claim 25  wherein the compressed e-mail message includes a compressed image embedded in the e-mail and the compression processing module is configured to decompress the compressed image if the remote system is determined capable of compressing. 
     
     
       33. The system of  claim 32  wherein the communication processing module also is configured to receive the compressed image embedded in the e-mail from the remote system. 
     
     
       34. The method of  claim 25  wherein the communication processing module is configured to receive a compressed e-mail message that includes the header, the body and at least one attachment, wherein the header of the compressed e-mail message comprises the header of the e-mail, the body of the compressed e-mail message comprises the compressed body of the e-mail, and the at least one attachment of the compressed e-mail message comprises at least one attachment of the e-mail. 
     
     
       35. The system of  claim 25 , wherein the detection processing module is configured to determine whether a remote system is capable of compressing the body of the e-mail without compressing the header of the e-mail. 
     
     
       36. The system of  claim 35 , wherein the header of the e-mail comprises at least one of:
 the name or address of the sender of the e-mail, 
 the name or address of the recipient of the e-mail, 
 a date and a time the e-mail was sent, and 
 a subject to which the e-mail relates. 
 
     
     
       37. A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving a compressed e-mail message from a remote system, wherein the compressed e-mail message includes a header and a body and is capable of supporting attachments that are distinct of the body of the compressed e-mail message, and wherein the body of the compressed e-mail message comprises the compressed body of an e-mail and the header of the compressed e-mail message comprises the header of the e-mail; 
 determining whether a remote system associated with the origin of the compressed e-mail message is capable of compressing less than all of the e-mail, wherein compressing less than all includes compressing a body of the e-mail; 
 and decompressing the compressed body of the e-mail if the remote system is determined capable of compressing the body. 
 
     
     
       38. The method of  claim 37  providing the compressed e-mail message includes encoded text. 
     
     
       39. The method of  claim 37  wherein decompressing the compressed body comprises decompressing the compressed body without any data loss. 
     
     
       40. The method of  claim 39  wherein decompressing the compressed body without any data loss comprises decompressing the compressed body using Zlib compression format. 
     
     
       41. The method of  claim 37  providing the email body includes content written in hypertext markup language. 
     
     
       42. The method of  claim 37  wherein receiving a compressed e-mail message includes receiving a compressed e-mail message that includes a header maintained in an uncompressed format. 
     
     
       43. The method of  claim 37  wherein the compressed e-mail message supports one or more compressed attachments and further comprising decompressing the compressed one or more attachments if the remote system is determined capable of compressing. 
     
     
       44. The method of  claim 37  wherein the compressed e-mail message includes a compressed image embedded in the e-mail and further comprising decompressing the compressed image if the remote system is determined capable of compressing. 
     
     
       45. The method of  claim 44  further comprising receiving the compressed image embedded in the e-mail from the remote computer. 
     
     
       46. The method of  claim 37  wherein receiving a compressed e-mail message includes receiving a compressed e-mail message that includes the header, the body and at least one attachment, wherein the header of the compressed e-mail message comprises the header of the e-mail, the body of the compressed e-mail message comprises the compressed body of the e-mail, and the at least one attachment of the compressed e-mail message comprises at least one attachment of the e-mail. 
     
     
       47. The method of  claim 37 , wherein determining whether the remote system associated with the origin of the e-mail is capable of compressing less than all of the e-mail comprises determining whether the remote system is capable of compressing the body of the e-mail without compressing the header of the e-mail. 
     
     
       48. The method of  claim 47 , wherein the header of the e-mail comprises at least one of:
 the name or address of the sender of the e-mail, 
 the name or address of the recipient of the e-mail, 
 a date and a time the e-mail was sent, and 
 a subject to which the e-mail relates.